Gators Headline

Wednesday July 11, 2012Harry: Top 10 Individual Performances for Gators in 2011-12 Athletic Season

GAINESVILLE,
Fla. -- Remember, I was late to the Florida party, arriving at GatorZone in
November. But I saw some pretty impressive performances by UF student-athletes,
including some absolute show-stoppers.

Also
missed some moment that I wished I’d seen.

None of
these will soon be forgotten, no matter who saw them.

1.
Oh, no-no he didn’t!

All
Jonathon Crawford did to start UF’s NCAA run was throw a no-hitter in a 4-0
defeat of Bethune-Cookman, marking the first time a Florida pitcher no-hit an
opponent since John Burke iced Furman in the NCAA’s opening round in
1991.

Crawford,
whose longest previous outing of the season was six innings, faced the minimum
27 batters in going the distance -- the lone BCC base-runner drew a walk, then
was caught stealing -- to become just the seventh pitcher in NCAA history to
hurl a no-hitter.

Bravo!

2.
One of those “As” in NCAA must stand for “Alex”

Sophomore
Alex Cercone played No. 5 singles for the better part of her two seasons with
the UF tennis team, but she can stake a claim to No. 1 clutch player when it
comes to the postseason.

Cercone,
who was undefeated in NCAA Tournament play as a freshman, faced an 0-2 hole in
the third set of the team championship semifinals against Duke, but rallied to
win 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in a 3-hour, 14-minute gut-check match that propelled the
Gators to a 4-3 victory and advanced the team into the title match vs.
UCLA.

Against
the Bruins, Cercone was the first Gator to win her singles match, making quick
work of Channelle Van Nguyen with a 6-2, 6-3 defeat en route to UF’s 4-0 win in
the team final.

Her last
match gave Cercone a perfect 9-0 mark in NCAA play during her two seasons at No.
5 singles with the Gators.

3.
Killer Kytra

When she
rolled out for the first collegiate meet of her career -- on the road at North
Carolina State -- and promptly won the all-around competition, Kytra Hunter
announced herself as a freshman force to be reckoned with.

She
ended the season as the best gymnast in the country.

Hunter
not only became the first UF gymnast to capture two individual titles at the
NCAA championship meet (winning the all-around and the vault events), she also
became only the fifth freshman in the meet’s 31-year history to claim multiple
titles as a freshman.

Her
performance helped the Gators finish within 0.075 points from the program’s
first NCAA team crown. That was tough to swallow.

But in
the coming weeks, word came that Hunter was the 2012 Honda Sports Award
recipient for gymnastics, an honor given annually to the nation’s top female.
Put another way: the Heisman Trophy winner for gymnasts.

4. He
definitely was the “Real Deal” in the postseason

Speaking
of freshmen, Bradley Beal arrived at UF as arguably the most decorated men’s
basketball recruit in the program’s history. The 2011 Gatorade National Player
of the Year had his ups and downs early in the season, but everything started
clicking in March. When it mattered most.

A
first-team All-SEC selection (the first UF freshman ever to be so recognized),
Beal was spectacular during the postseason. In two SEC Tournament games and
four NCAA Tournament games, he combined to average 16.5 points, making 53
percent from the floor and nearly 46 percent from long-distance, eight rebounds
and 3.7 assists, as the Gators rolled to the Elite Eight only to lose to
Louisville one win shy of the Final Four.

His
performance in the spotlight of March Madness, vaulted the 6-foot-5 guard to
the top of pro scouting charts. He announced for the NBA in April and on June
28 -- his 19th birthday -- was selected by the Washington Wizards with the No.
3 overall pick in the draft, tying for the second-highest a UF player had been
chosen.

5.
From NCAA champion to two-time U.S. Olympian

Winning
the 200-meter backstroke at the NCAA Swimming Championships proved to be a
warm-up act for Elizabeth Beisel.

The UF
sophomore, who made the U.S. Olympic team as a 16-year-old Rhode Island high
school junior in 2008, doubled down on her international resume by winning the
400 individual medley at the 2012 Olympic Trials last month, then placed second
in the 200 back to lock up two spots with the American team bound for
London.

While a
handful of swimmers with Gator ties (See Lochte, Ryan) will be swimming for
U.S./UF coach Gregg Troy in England, Beisel was the lone current UF
student-athlete to make the squad.

6.
And while we’re on the subject of Gator Olympians ...

Junior
sprinter Tony McQuay is headed across the pond with Beisel too, only he’ll be
sprinting on dry land.

McQuay
finished second at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in the 400 meters,
an event he has claimed as his own three times at the NCAA level. He sped to
personal-best time of 44.49 to finish behind world leader LaShawn Merritt’s
44.12 in the national outdoor meet.

Just
three weeks earlier, though, McQuay ran the anchor leg of UF’s victorious 4x400
relay at the NCAA Track and Field Championships, securing the winning points on
the meet’s final event to give the Gators (and Coach Mike Holloway) the
program’s first men’s outdoor national crown.

7.
Gilroy was there -- all day long

Northwestern
had won seven of the last eight NCAA women’s lacrosse championships and were
the odds-on favorites to make it eight in nine years.

But
first, the Wildcats wanted to avenge a rare home loss to the upstart Gators
that gave Florida, in just its third year of existence, the regular-season
title. The two teams met in the American Lacrosse Conference Tournament title
game in Gainesville.

Northwestern
came to UF having allowed just 6.9 goals per game, which ranked No. 1 in the
nation. Think about that stat when digesting the next one.

Gators
freshman midfielder Shannon Gilroy scored seven goals her herself in a 14-7
route of the nation’s top-ranked team, as the blossoming Florida program
celebrated a rare regular-season and tournament ALC sweep on its home field.

8.
NCAA’s fastest indoor man

Running
back and return man Jeff Demps didn’t have the senior year he wanted on the
football field, nor did the focus of his Olympic pursuits come to
fruition.

But in
between, Demps erupted for one big burst in winning the 60-meter dash at the
NCAA Indoor championships for the third straight year, this time in a
school-record 6.52 seconds.

Demps’
title also helped the Gators claim a third straight men’s indoor national
crown.

Those were
the honors junior Mike Zunino threw into his U-Haul and pulled out of town with
after being taken by Seattle with the third overall pick in the MLB Draft; the
highest ever by a Gator, no less.

Want
more?

In
helping guide Florida to its third College World Series in his three seasons,
Zunino also claimed the UF team version of theTriple Crown, leading the club in
average (.322), home runs (19) and RBI (67) during the 2012 season.

10.
Fitting finish for Embree

A year
earlier, she fought back from four games down in the third and decisive set to
win the crown-clinching point in the NCAA Women’s Tennis Championships at
reigning champ/dynasty Stanford.

This
year’s task wasn’t nearly as daunting nor dramatic, but once again it was UF
junior Lauren Embree setting off the celebration for her teammates.

Her
defeat of UCLA’s McCall Jones at No. 2 singles gave Florida its fourth point
and merely reinforced what anyone who follows college tennis already
knew.